Engine starter and generator unit



June 11, 1929. H. FORD ENGINE STARTER AND GENERATOR UNIT Filed Aug. 18,1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l m YENTOR.

ATTOEWY June 11, 1929. H. FORD 1,716,627

ENGINE STARTER AND GENERATOR UNIT Filed Aug. 18, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR.

E g 'ORNEY.

Patented June-11, 1929.

UNITED" STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY FORD, OF DEARBORN, MICHIGAN.

- ENGINE STARTER AND GENERATOR UNIT.

Application filed August 18, 1926. Serial No. 129,972'

' pensive construction.

Still a further object. of my invention is to provide an internalcombustion engine having an electric motor associated therewith, for thepurpose of starting the engine,

' and to provide in connection with such motor, means for automaticallyconnecting and disconnecting it with some portion. of the engine whenthe starting motor is actuated and when the engine is running under itsown power respectively.

Still a further object of my invention is to vprovide an engaging deviceof the type described which may be mounted upon the front cross memberof the car frame and connected to the crankshaft of the engine so as toform an extension thereto.

Still, a further object of my' invention is .to provide an engagingdevice of the type described which has a gear fastened to the enginecrankshaft, thru an extension, and ratchet pawls, or dogs fastened onsaid gear and acting upon a ratchet wheel which is connected thru a geartrain to the starting motor so that when current is supplied to themotor, then that the ratchet connected to the starting motor will engagewith the pawls connected to/ the engine; but when the engine startsrunning under its own powerthen the pawls thru centrifugal action willdisconnect themselves from the ratchet wheel connected to the startingmotor.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide an engine starterand generator unit which will be reasonably free from noise whenoperating. In this connection it will no doubt be understood that one ofthe types of starter drives generally used is made up of a small pinionmounted on the starting motor shaft, the teeth of the pinion meshingwith the teeth of alarge ring gear mount-- ed on the engine flywheel. Astarting motor of moderate torque is generally more eflicient than oneof extremely high torque, consequentlya high ratio between the number of.reduction by using two gear trains.

teeth in the pinion and the number in the ring gear is desired therebyproducing a high torque and low speed of the flywheel ring gearv with arelatively low torque and high speed of thestarter pinion. As the sizeof the ring gear is limited by the diameter of the flywheel, the motorpinion must be made abnormally small which, when running at a high speedand meshing with a larger gear, produces excessive noise. Noise is alsoproduced withthis type of drive when the pinion engages the gear. It ismy object therefore to eliminate the .greater part of these noises byusing only gears of relatively small ratios and getting the desired Thegears are in mesh at all times, the starting gears being stationaryhowever, after the engine is running.

Still a further object of my invention'is to provide an internalcombustion engine having a' generator connected thereto which will bepositively driven by the engine when the latter is running and locatedin such position so as to be accessible for inspection or repair at alltimes.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide a starting motorconnected at all times thru a series of gears, with a ratchet wheellocated in such a position that one or more pawls mounted on the crankshaft, will be free to engage with it.

Still a further object of my invention, is to provide a pawl supportdirectly connected to the engine crank shaft, having a plurality ofpawls fastened to the said pawl support so that when the engine isstopped one or more pawls will be forced by gravity to engage with saidratchet wheel thereby forming a driving connection between the ratchetwheel and the pawls and therefore a connection between the startingmotor and the engine.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide a pawl support,directly convide a sto starting motor and the engine, also to proforeach pawl so that when the pawl isin ts outward position it will be heldagainst the said stop. In this connection it may be well to bring outthat in conventional types of ratchet drives the ratchet is connected tothe engine and the pawl to the driven member but this has thedisadvantage that the pawl must be held from dropping on the rotatingratchet by some mechanical means as the noise produced by the pawlstriking each ratchet tooth is excessive. It willbe noted that in myimproved device no such objection isencountered as the pawls are heldaway from the'stationary,

ratchet by centrifugal force, due to their rotation with the crankshaftof the engine.

Still a further'object of my invention is to provide a combined startingand generating unit which will be disposed on the front cross member ofthe car frame and connected to the engine by an extension fastened tothe crankshaft. of the engine so that the unit may be easily removed orthe engine may be taken out of the car without disturbing the unit.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide means for crankingthe engine by hand, when desired, thru the aforesaid extension to theengine crankshaft.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in thearrangement, combination, and construction of the various parts of myimproved device, as described in the specifications, claimed in myclaims and shown in the accompanying drawings, in

which:

Fig. 1 shows a top view in somewhat diagrammatic form, of an engine roadwheel,

bumper, front spring and frame such as are normally used in connectionwith a motor vehicle and having my improved combined starter andgenerator unit mounted thereon.

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged detail top "view of my combined starter andgenerator unit, parts being broken away to better illustrate theconstruction. I

Fig. 3 shows a vertical central longitudinal sectional view thru theunit illustrated by Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 shows a vertical transverse sectional view taken on lined-4: ofFig. 3.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

' I have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate generally the engineof an automobile so as to form a protection or the combined,

startergenefator unit to which I have given the numeral 17. This unit17is fastened securely to frame 12 at the center of the front cross memberand to theoutside thereof by means which will be hereinafter described.

Referring to Fig. 3 a shaft 20 with splines 21 on the outer end thereofis fastened to the front end of the engine crankshaft in any suitablemanner and splines 21 are inserted in'corresponding splines in a conling 22 and extend to about the middle of said coupling. The shaft 23 isformed with splines 24. at one end and ratchet teeth 25 at the otherend. The splines 24 are inserted into correspoding splines in coupling:22 to about midway in the coupling thereby making a driving connectionbetween the ratchet teeth25 thru coupling 22 thrushaft 20 to the enginecrankshaft. It can thus be seen that when the engine is running theshaft 23 is also rotating at crankshaft speed and that in case the en-fand also the front cover for housing 26. The.

inside of housing 26 when cover 29. is in place is of such size that thedrive gears and ratchet wheel to be described later, maybe locatedtherein. The housing 26 and cover 29: are provided with,-a plurality ofaligned pairs of openings aroundtheir edges to re-' ceive screws (26A)for securing the cover 29 to the housing 26. Said housing 26 and coverare also 'provided'with three pairs of aligned openings 34 to receivethe bolts 27. A boss 32 extends r'earwardly from the housing 26 andreceives a bea-ring'33 which forms the forward bearing for the shaft 23.The frame member 11 is also provided with a plurality of openingsaligned with openings 34 in housing 26 and one large opening 82 to forman opening into which the boss 32 may be inserted whereby bolts 27 arepassed thru the "cover29", thehousing 26, and frame 11 and fastened onthe insideof the frame, thereby holding the wholeunit securely to thefront cross member of the said frame. The

housing 26 is also provided with-a removable screw plug (28) which maybe taken out to drain the gear lubricant in case it is desired todisassemble the unit. The cover 29 is provided with a centrally locatedopening aligned with the opening in the boss 32 ofthe housing 26, ofsuch size that it will form a support and mounting'for the forwardhearing (33) for the shaft 23.

The generator 30 and thestarter 31 are of cylindrical cross section andmounted on the cover 29 in approximately the position shown in Fig. 2and Fig. 3, their armature shafts being parallel tothe shaft 25 and alsoto the engine crankshaft and spaced so that the ratchets 25 on shaft 23may lie between them.

The cover 29 is also provided with two openings located centrally withreference to the starter 31 and the generator 30 designed to form asupport for their armature bearings which will later be described.

Thegenerator' 30 is of the conventional type havin a cylindrical shell34 into which fits an end cover and bearing support 35. The field coils36 are mounted on cores 37 which are fastened onto shell 34. An armature38 is supported by the shaft 39 which is supported at the forward end bya bearing (not shown) in the end cover 35 and at the rear end by thebearing 40. A shoulder 41 on the shaft39 adjacent to the bearing 40holds the said bearing in position on the shaft 39. A portion of theshaft 39 on the extreme rear end is threaded leaving a portion of theshaft between the shoulder 41 and the threaded portion of sufficientlength to receive the bearing 40 and a drive gear 42 the latter beingcomposed of a hub 43 in which is located an opening correspondlng to thereduced section of the shaft 39. A lock washer 44 and a nut 45 areassembled on the threaded portion of shaft 39 and bind the gear 42 andthe inner race of bearing 40 on shaft 39, the gear 42 is provided withteeth 46 which are in constant mesh with a drivlng gear mounted on theshaft 25. v,

The cover 29 has a circular boss 47, pro ecting from its forward face ofa diameter slight- 1 smaller than the inside of body 34 thereby fbrminga locating ring for the generator 30. A plurality ofmachine'screws 48,(illustrated in F ig, 4) extend thru suitable openings in cover 29inside of the shell 34 and are threaded into theend cover 35, therebyholding the whole generating unit together and also fastening itsecurely onto the cover 29.

The starting motor 31 is similar in construet-ion to the generator 30,the size and shape being approximately the same. The shell 51 is ofcylindrical form and has field :oils 52 mounted on the cores 53 whichare suitably secured to body 51. An armature 54 is secured to the motorshaft 55 and the whole is rotatably mounted on the bearing 5am the cover29 and on a suitable bearing in the end cover 57. The bearing 56 is aring of antifriction metal pressed into the cover 29 before the starter31 is in place. The cover 29 has a boss 58 similar to the boss 47 usedto locate the starter 31 and hold the same in alignment with the unit. Aplurality of machine screws 59 are inserted in the cover 29 thrusuitable openings and extend thru the inside of the body 51 to the cover57 in to which they are threaded thereby holding the starter parts inassembled relation and the starter onto the housing cover 29. 4 Theshaft 55 extends rearwardl beyond the bearing 56 a distance sufficientor the gear teeth 60 which are cut in its rear end and form a pinion, tomeshwith the idler gear 61. A trunnion 62 extends between bearingbosses, not shown in the drawings, but located in the housing 26 and thecover 29 in such position as to holdthe trunnion 62 parallel to theshaft 55. A dual reduction gear which I have designated generally as 63has two sets of teeth thereon, the said teeth or gear member 61 beingthe gear which receives the rotating impulse from the starter 31 thruthe pinion 60, and a smallergear member 64 which is rotated by gear 61and imparts its rotation to the driving ratchets. The trunnion 62 formsthe support for this dual gear upon which it is rotatably mounted andheld from end motion by the bearing bosses on the housing 26 and thecover 29. a

As has been previously stated, the shaft 23 is provided with splines onits inner end which flange extending forwardly from flange 66 forms agear 69 of sufficient diameter which meshes with the generator drivegear 42. In the outer edge of flange 66 a plurality of pawl pins 70 aremounted to form a support for the pawls 71.

The pins 70 are of circular cross section, and

\ have reduced ends whereby a shoulder is formed at each end of eachpin. A ring 72 of the same outside diameter as the flange 66 is 'mountedon the free ends of the pins 70 to form a brace for said pins and aguide for the pawls 71, the starting ratchet being disposed between thering 72 and the flange 66.

A plurality of stop pins 74 similar to pawl pins 7 Care mounted betweenflanges 66 and ring 72 in the same way, said pins 74 forming stops forthe pawls 71 so that the latter may not move outwardly further than theouter edge of flange 66'. Four pawls are shown in mydrawings but it ismy intention to cover the use of any number of pawls as it is onlynecessary to have one pawl to form a working unit, however, the greaterthe number of pawls the quieter the operation of the starter will be.

The outer surface of hub 67 of pawl holder 65 forms a bearing for thestarting ratchet and gear which I will designate generally by thenumeral 75. A sleeve 76 is rotatably mounted on hub 67, the outerperiphery of said sleeve 76 being formed into a series of ratchet teeth77 which are so formed that they and the pawls 71. A series of teeth 80are out i in the outer periphery of the member 78 so as to form a gearwhich meshes with the pinion 64 of the dual reduction gear 63. From theforegoing it may be seen that a direct connection is obtained at alltimes from the engine crankshaft thru shaft 20, coupling 22, shaft 23,splines 24, pawl holder 65, and then to pawls 71. It will be understoodin this connection that when the engine 10 is in operation the pawlholder 65 rotates continuously in the same direction as the enginecrankshaft and that pawls 71 will also be rotated. The pawls 71 willthereby be forced outwardly by centrifugal for'cegthe outward movementof the pawl teeth being stopped by the pins 74, and thereby rotatingfreely and Without noise. The gear 69 is rotated continuously when theengine 19 is inoperation, being a part of the pawl holder 6'5 andtherefore being driven continuously, and as the gear 69 is in constantmesh with the generator gear 42 Which is mounted on the generatorarmature shaft 39, the generator armature will also rotate continuouslywhen the engine is running. From the foregoing it may be seen that theengine 10 is at all times connected to the pawl holder 65 which rotatesdirectly with it and is also connected thru the gears 69 and 42 to thegener ator armature. Y

The starting motor 31 is normally station'- ary when the engine is inoperation, that is its armature and shaft are not rotating, thereforepinion 60, the du l reduction gear 63, the gear 88and the startingratchet wheel 75 are also stationary.

When the engine 10 is not running the 'pawls 71 will also be stationary,as has previously been described, and thepawl'which happensto be on'theupper side of the ratchet wheel 77 will drop down by gravity againstratchet 77 either on top of a tooth or in the which happens to be incontact with the In the practical operation of ratchet wheel 77 willimpart this rotary motion to pins 7 0 and from there to the pawl holder65 thru the shaft 23 to the coupling-22 and then to shaft 20 which isconnected to the engine crankshaft thereby rotating the said'crankshaft.

my improved combined starter and generator unit, let it be assumed thatthe engine is idleand that the Various parts of the starting device arein their normal inoperative position. Upon a source of current (notshown) being applied to motor armature 54, the same together with itsshaft begins to rotate; Since the dual gear I 63 forms a\connectionbewteen the ratchet gear 80 and, the armature pinion 60 the said ratchetgear begins to rotate also, carrying with it ratchet wheel 77D One orvmore of the pawls 71 that are engaging the said-ratchet Wheel areengaged by the'teeth of the ratchet and tend to be carried along withthem, this action applying a rotary motion to pins and also to pawlholder 65 in which the pins are located. As there-is a drivingconnection between pawl-holder 65 and the crankshaft of engine 10 thrusplines 24, shaft 23, coupling 22 and shaft 20, a rotary motion is alsoapplied to the said crankshaft. l/Vhen the engine starts on its ownpower the crankshaft accelerates and acquires a speed exceeding thatimparted to it by the starting device thereby rotating the pawl holderand pawl at a similar speed.

The faster relative rotation of the pawls around the ratchet wheeldisconnects the pawls from,said ratchet wheel and due tot-he rotationcentrifugal force urges the pawl teeth 71 out of engagement with theratchet wheel and against pins 74 and lets them rotate freely in thisposition. When the current to starting armature 54 is cut ofi, thearmature comes to rest thereby holding the ratchet wheel 77 stationary.

As the gear 69 forms a part of the pawl holder 65 this gear will alwaysrotate when the engine 10 is running. As the gear 69 is in constant meshwith the generator drive gear 46, the latter is rotated at a speedcorresponding to the ratio between the gear 69 and the gear 46 and inturn rotatesthe generator armature 38 towhich it is connected ,thru theshaft 39. It therefore is evident that the generator armature 38 rotatesin a concrank will impart a rotary motion to the crankshaft identical tothat motion imparted by the starting motor 31. From this'it may be seenthat if for any reason it is desired to crank the engine 10'by hand, theengine may be cranked by the use of a suitable hand "crank.

-Among the many advantages arising from the use of my device, it willbenoted that while under ordinary running conditions starting motor 31 isnever. operated, yet

should for any reason the starting motor be set into rotation while theengineis rotating rapidly, there would beno connection whatfore out ofconnection with ratchet 77.

The gear reduction which I have embodied in my starter and generatorwill be noted 3 to be as follows: Starter pinion 60 has seven teethmeshing with gear GlWhlCll has twenty six teeth. Gear 61 is a unit withpinion 64- twenty to onewhich allows a starting motor of high speed andmoderate torque to be used.

Gear 69 is formed with thirty eight teeth and gear 42 has thirty-threeteeth giving an increase in the speed of the generator of about one toone and fourteen one hundredths compared to that of the enginecrankshaft. Both of these ratios are considered good practice inautomobile design, but I do not wish to limit myself to the exact ratiosshown as any reasonable gear ratios may be used without departing fromthe spirit of my invention.

The assembly of my improved device is accomplished with comparativelyfew operations. The starter armature 54 and genera tor armature 38 areplaced in their respective housings 31 and 30 and these housings aresecured onto cover 29 with the machine screws 48 and 59, the bearings 40and 56 having been previously assembled in cover 29. The gear 42 and thebearing 46 are secured on to the shaft 39 by the nut 45. The pins 70 and74 are riveted in alternate holes in the holder and the pins are theninserted in the openings inpawls 71, the

backs of the pawl teeth resting against the pins 74. The ring 72 is nowrivet-ed to the ends of pins 70 and 74 and the said pins are riveted inplace forming a compact unit. The ratchet gear 75 is now assembled overthe hub 67 with the ratchet teeth 77 adjacent to flange 66. The bearing33-A is slipped over the splined end of shaft 23 adjacent to a shoulder81 provided on said shaft and the ratchet unit is then slipped on theshaft 23 with gear 69 encircling bearing 33A. The bearing 33 is thenmounted directly on splines 24, the remaining section of splines 24being taken up by coupling 22. This whole unit is now mounted in thehousing 26, the bearing 33 being inserted in a central hole in boss 32provided for it in said housing. The trunnion 62 is now inserted in thetrunnion boss in housing 26 and the dual gear 63 is mounted upon saidtrunnion. The cover 29 with the motor and the generator attached is nowplaced on the housing 26 so that bearing 33A is inserted in the centralopening in said cover. The screws 27-A are extended thru the cover 29and screwed into the housing 26. The shaft 20 is attached to the frontend of the engine crankshaft which is aligned with the opening 82 in thefront cross member of the frame 11 designed to receive the boss 68 ofthe housing 26. The coupling 22 of the assembled unit is now placed thruthis opening from the forward end and the whole unit is locked in placeby machine bolts 27.

Some changes may be made in the arrangement and construction of thevarious parts of my improved device without departing from the spirit ofmy invention and it is my intention to cover by the following claimssuch changes as may be reasonably included within the scope thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a combined generator and starter unit, a housing, a shaft extendedtherethrough intermediate of the ends thereof, a combined bearing sleeveand pawl holder and generator gear member mounted on said shaft andadapted to be held from rotation relative thereto, a combined ratchetwheel and. drive gear journalled on said bearing sleeve in positionwhere the ratchet wheel may be engaged by said pawls, a generatormounted on said housing at one side of said shaft, a starter mounted onsaid housing on the other side of said shaft, and means for operativelyconnecting the generator and starter respectiyely with the generatorgear and the drive gear.

2. In a combined starter and generator unit, a housing, a shaft extendedthrough said housing and adapted to be connected at one end with thecrankshaft of an engine and at the other end with a hand crank for anengine, a combined pawl holder and bearing sleeve and generator gearmember fixed to said shaft, a combined ratchet wheel and drive gearjournaled on said bearing portion in position where the ratchet wheelmay be engaged by pawls mounted on the pawl holder, a generator mountedon said housing at one side of said shaft, a gear adapted to operativelyconnect said generator with the generator gear, a starting motor mountedon said housing on the other side of said shaft, and a reduction gearingbetween said starting motor and the drive gear, the parts being soarranged that the pawl mechanism will engage the pawl wheel when thestarting motor is operated to thereby drive said shaft, and so that thepawl mechanism will be rendered inoperative by centrifugal force whenthe shaft is being rotated by means other than the starting motor.

3. In a combination starter and generator I mounted on the pawl holder,and a generator driving gear adapted to mesh with the first describedgear and mounted on said housing.

Signed at the city of Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, this14th day of August, 1926.

HENRY FORD.

